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Max Verstappen has extended his championship lead after overcoming Lewis Hamilton in another nail-biting F1 duel at the French GP, superbly passing his title rival on the penultimate lap of the Paul Ricard race.

On an afternoon that was eventually dictated by team strategy with the Red Bull and Mercedes cars evenly matched on track, Verstappen used his fresh tyres after his second stop to charge up behind a one-stopping Hamilton in the closing stages and pounced on his prey on Lap 52 of 53.

Verstappen swept past a struggling Hamilton on the main DRS straight, as the F1 2021 season continues to serve up decisive wheel-to-wheel battles between its star drivers.

It was far from a straight-forward Sunday for either driver – with a pole-starting Verstappen having lost his lead after a mistake into the first chicane, and Hamilton after a Red Bull undercut – but the end result is that Verstappen now holds a 12-point title lead over the seven-world champion.

And Red Bull have won three races in a row for the first time since 2013.

“We had to work hard for it, but very rewarding,” said Verstappen, who also passed Valtteri Bottas on his way to catching Hamilton.

While Hamilton stressed that Red Bull had the quicker package, Mercedes told the Englishman “this one’s on us” after questionable strategy calls compared to their main rivals.

Bottas was particularly frustrated after frequently telling his team that a one-stop strategy would not work, only to stay out on track and eventually lose positions to both the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

With both drivers on the podium, it was therefore a near-perfect day for Red Bull.

Behind the top four, McLaren had the best race pace of the midfield and Lando Norris continued his superb season in fifth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who enjoyed a much-improved French GP weekend.

Pierre Gasly was seventh, while multiple world champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel expertly managed their tyre strategies behind.

After starting 19th, Lance Stroll completed the top-10 on another strong Sunday for Aston Martin, with Ferrari surprisingly slipping out of contention completely.

Carlos Sainz, who started fifth, finished 11th and Charles Leclerc a lowly 16th after a second stop. – Sky Sports